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Houck

Houck authored another brilliant performance, scattering just two hits and one walk over seven nearly-flawless frames. He finished with five strikeouts and allowed just six batted balls with an exit velocity over 92 mph in this one. He’ll carry a sparkling 1.94 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 62/12 K/BB ratio across 65 innings (10 starts) into a home tilt on Sunday against the Brewers. The 27-year-old righty has been an unexpected revelation this season for fantasy managers, allowing three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 10 starts so far.

Houck was humming along until back-to-back singles in the sixth inning sent Alex Cora to the bullpen with Houck at 112 pitches, the highest total of his career. Greg Weissert then allowed both inherited runners to score, spoiling Houck’s chance for a victory. Still solid, he’s looked more mortal in his last three starts with a 3.86 ERA and 20.0 K%.

It’s absurd that Houck should have a sub-.500 record with a 2.24 ERA, but the Red Sox have totaled four runs in his four losses. This was not Houck at his best tonight; he gave up 11 hard-hit balls and settled for four strikeouts. He’ll face the Rays next.

Houck deserves far better, but the Red Sox have totaled three runs in his three losses to date. His ERA stands at 2.18 after seven turns through the rotation. He’ll get the Nationals next.

Houck scattered just four hits on the evening and didn’t walk a batter. The lone tally against him came on an RBI single by Matt Mervis in the seventh inning — the final batter that Houck faced. The 27-year-old right-hander generated 16 swings and misses on 95 pitches on the night — getting five or more whiffs on each of his slider, sinker and splitter — while posting a CSW of 35 percent. He’ll bring a pristine 1.60 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and a 41/5 K/BB ratio (39 1/3 innings) into Saturday’s showdown against the Twins in Minnesota.

Houck’s shutout streak against the Guardians was snapped at 15 consecutive frames in this one when Tyler Freeman delivered a game-tying RBI single in the seventh inning. He finished with four strikeouts and also issued three walks. He’ll bring a sparkling 1.65 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 32/5 K/BB ratio across 32 2/3 innings (five starts) into a road matchup on Saturday against the Twins.

Houck was incredible Wednesday against the Guardians. He faced just two batters over the minimum, scattering three base hits with no walks. Houck had his slider working, generating 11 whiffs on the pitch and 19 total to strike out nine batters. The 27-year-old right-hander will look to build on the dominant performance when he takes a 1.35 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and a 28/2 K/BB ratio across 26 2/3 innings into a rematch against the Guardians in Cleveland next week.

The Red Sox defense was really bad early, and Houck was really bad afterwards, perhaps in part because he had to work more in the early innings than should have been necessary. He wound up allowing 13 hard-hit balls, which will likely go down as one of the highest totals in the majors for the season. As Boston’s strongest groundball pitcher, Houck became quite a bit less interesting for fantasy purposes when the Red Sox lost their only plus defensive infielder. He’ll have better days than this, but his ceiling is lower than it was a couple of weeks ago.

That’s his second straight start with six shutout innings. He has now allowed just seven hits over his first 12 innings while striking out 17 and walking just two. While he has faced the A’s and Angels, those are still impressive numbers. The right-hander has added a cutter this season to help him limit damage against lefties; however, he only needed his slider and sinker today with his slider posting a 40 percent whiff rate and 41 percent CSW. Houck will face these same Angels next week at home and should be picked up in most fantasy leagues.

Houck allowed three hits and walked none. In fact, 63 of his 83 pitches were strikes. Houck could offer some mixed-league value if he can cut back on the walks, but a strong outing against the A’s isn’t particularly telling. He’s not a terrible play with the Angels next on the schedule.